Seven things you need to know about the PanelView Plus

I still run into new users who need to support and program the Allen-Bradley PanelView Plus HMI, even though it was released over a decade ago.

So for everyone out there who's in the same position, today I'll share with you the seven essential things you need to know about the PanelView Plus:

1) PanelView Plus Hardware:

PanelView Plus 700 – 1500

There are three main versions of PanelView Plus Hardware:

PanelView Plus & VersaView CE

PanelView Plus 6

PanelView Plus 7

While the PanelView Plus and PanelView Plus 6 share the same look and feel, the PanelView Plus 7 uses newer screen technology and has a slightly different look.

2) PanelView Plus Software:

The PanelView Plus line of HMI's is programmed using FactoryTalk View Studio Machine Edition (ViewME) or Supervisory Edition (ViewSE.) For information about the latest release of FTView, check out this article HERE.

Communications to Allen-Bradley PLCs is accomplished using RSLinx Enterprise, which is included with, and configured from within FactoryTalk View Studio.

Originally, the software was known as RSView Studio (not to be confused with RSView32,) but was later re-branded along with many of Rockwell's software packages that used the FactoryTalk suite of services.

While each PanelView Plus comes with a ViewME runtime license and software preloaded, ViewME runtimes are also available for PC.

3) PanelView Plus Applications:

PanelView Plus applications created with View Studio include the HMI Project as well as RSLinx Enterprise configuration and any supported KepServer OPC driver configurations.

Because of this, users should backup their applications using the included Application Manager utility, which results in an .APA or Application Archive file.

While backups of the HMI project folder can be imported into a new application, the imported application won't include any communication configuration.

For more information about backing up your View Studio applications, check out this article HERE.

4) PanelView Plus Runtimes:

When a PanelView Plus application is ready to be used in the field, a Machine Edition Runtime or .MER file must first be created.

This is done in View Studio by selection Create Runtime Application under the Application menu.

.MER runtimes are version specific, and while most new PanelView Plus models will run .MERs created for old versions, PanelView Plus models running old firmware will not be able to run .MERs created to support newer firmware.

For example, if you have a PanelView Plus 700 with firmware 5.1 loaded, it can run .MER runtime files created for versions 3.0-5.1. However, the same PanelView Plus 700 with firmware 3.0 will only be able to run version a .MER file of version 3.0.

To learn how to copy MER runtime files to and from your PanelView Plus, check out these articles HERE and HERE.

5) Editing PanelView Plus Runtimes:

Over the years dozens (if not hundreds) of people have asked me how they can go about editing their .MER files which they uploaded from their PVPlus.

The short answer if you may not be able to, which is why you'll always want to have the application archive or .APA file.

More specifically, if you have a .MER created for version 5.0 and newer firmware, and the person creating the .MER file selected “always allow conversion” (and if needed, you have the password) then you can use the Application Manager to restore the runtime file into an application.

That said, if your .MER is for a pre-5 version, there's no easy way to restore it to a project.

While if you open a pre-v5 runtime on your PC in the ViewME station software (doing so requires a PC runtime license) you could retrieve much of the project including Graphics and Tags, you would not be able to recover communications settings, alarms, macros, and parameters.

For more information about editing .MER files, check out this article HERE.

6) PanelView Plus Configuration:

If you need to set your PanelView Plus's clock, Ethernet address, or one of dozens of other settings, you'll need to access it's Configuration Menu.

This is the default display that loads when a brand new terminal is powered on.

And for those terminals which are already running a project, developers can place a “shutdown” or “goto config” button in the project so users can exit the running application and return to the Config Menu.

However, most designers don't put those buttons in their projects for fear an operator will press it accidentally.

With that in mind, most PanelView Plus models also support pressing a small white box on the screen during boot-up to bypass the application and go directly to the Configuration Menu.

To learn more about accessing the PanelView Plus configuration menu, click HERE.

7) PanelViewPlus vs 6 vs 7:

PanelView Plus 400 and 600 models

Original PanelView Plus
The original PanelView Plus terminals support firmware versions 3.0 through 5.1.

Over time the line grew to include several different sub-lines, including:

Since the PVPlus and PVPlus 6 use the same displays, one way to quickly identify a PVPlus 6 is by the large wavy heatsink on the back of the unit.

With the PanelView Plus 6, Rockwell basically upgraded the original design with an new and improved Logic Board, while reusing most of the older model's displays and bezels.

Most PanelView Plus 6 models natively support firmware versions 6.0 and greater, but can also run .MER files all the way back to version 3.2. That is, as long as the runtime uses a supported communication path (see below.)

One big difference between the original PanelView Plus and the PanelView Plus 6 is the later doesn't support support and IO networks.

Specifically, PanelView Plus 6 terminals do not support RIO, DeviceNet, and scheduled ControlNet.

Another difference is that all PanelView Plus 6 models have an SD card slot (in place of the original's Compact Flash card slot) as well as include access to the Windows CE desktop.